Man who ran over pedestrians was 'hearing voices'

NEW YORK (AP) - A Times Square motorist accused of steering his vehicle onto one of the busiest sidewalks in the US and mowing down pedestrians has been charged with murder and 20 counts of attempted murder, police say.

The driver who hit the pedestrians, 26-year-old Richard Rojas, was arrested.

Richard Rojas, 26, the driver of the auto that killed one and injured 22 others in the busy New York Times Square on Thursday, was admitted to Bellevue Hospital Center for evaluation.

The dead woman was named by police as Alyssa Elsman, 18, who was on vacation with her family from MI.

Witnesses to the wreck in Times Square say they watched in horror as the auto plowed into a group of pedestrians, killing one and injuring 22 others.

The mayor told WNYC Radio Friday that Rojas had "demonstrated mental health issues going back to childhood" that "went unaddressed even during the time he was in the United States military". He was discharged in 2014 as the result of a special court martial, a Navy official said.

The New York Police Department has a station right in Times Square, at 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue, so the response to the incident was nearly instantaneous. Police do not suspect a link to terrorism and the driv.

Police said Rojas made a sudden U-turn onto West 42nd Street and drove north up the sidewalk for three blocks, passing tourist attractions such as the Hard Rock Cafe and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co restaurant and mowing people down.

Following his arrest shortly after the crash at around noon, Rojas was transported to a testing facility to determine whether he had drugs or alcohol in his system. Rojas was charged at the time with misdemeanor battery and resisting an officer without violence, but it was unclear how the case was resolved.He spent two months in a military prison in Charleston, South Carolina, in the summer of 2013, but the Navy records did not say why. He says Rojas was posting "crazy stuff" online that has since been taken down, according to The Associated Press.

Two law enforcement officials say Rojas told police he was hearing voices and expected to die.

On Thursday evening, police were at an apartment where Rojas stayed with his mother in the Mount Eden section of the Bronx.

Rojas was in custody and unable to comment. The arresting officer said Rojas screamed, "My life is over!" as he was being detained.

They say they worked with the City of NY and NYPD to determine exactly what they would look like.

Lowe saw injured people, including a woman who "had tracks all over her body". In previous arrests, he told authorities he believed he was being harassed and followed, one of the police officials said. The fire department said earlier that 22 people were injured, but police on Friday said the number was 20. "Today's events at Times Square were nothing short of horrific", he said in a statement.

Television images taken at the scene showed people being taken away on stretchers.

The auto came to rest with two of its wheels in the air, leaning on a lamppost and steel barriers meant to block vehicles from getting onto the sidewalk.

Times Square was evacuated in May 2010 when a vehicle bomb that failed to explode was found in an SUV.

There was no immediate word from New York City police on the number of people who were hurt.

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